Joey Logano returns to the track that changed the course of his career Sunday for the 2019 STP 500. Martinsville Speedway provided the mayhem that would propel him to win a series championship.

No one was thinking Logano back then as the laps wound down here during the race last fall. NASCAR’s Big Three of Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick had dominated the season to that point. The trio were widely expected to make NASCAR’s championship finale a private battle among themselves.

NASCAR’s short track season is underway with the starting lineup set for Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. It's the sixth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of 2019 and the first at a track less than a mile in length.

The 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season is off and running as we try and prepare ourselves for the unknown of the sport's new rules package. The racing will be closer and more exhilarating, but with that comes unpredictability, more so now than ever. Daily fantasy NASCAR will be a totally different animal beginning with Sunday's (Feb. 24) Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.

The 2019 NASCAR season begins on Sunday, Feb. 17, with the running of the 61st Daytona 500. Millions around the country will begin their fantasy leagues, daily fantasy participation in the sport and start gambling on the race winner. It’s a phenomenon the sport hasn’t ignored: NASCAR hired Sportsradar Integrity Services to help shape a gambling policy in the wake of legalization across the United States.

The kid who started racing because Santa Claus brought him a go-kart when he was a 5-year-old has come of age. Joey Logano was touted as a teenager by Hall of Famer Mark Martin as “the greatest thing since sliced bread.” The “Sliced Bread” nickname stuck, and Logano has lived up to it, winning the 2018 Cup title in tenacious fashion, taking out Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and defending champion Martin Truex Jr., the drivers dubbed the Big 3 for their dominant year in the wins column.

The 2019 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series season is set to crank up with the 61st running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 17. That means it's time to start registering for your favorite fantasy NASCAR league on NASCAR.com, Fantrax, Fantasy Racing Online or even on DFS (FanDuel, DraftKings, etc.).

The 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs wind down Sunday, Nov. 18, at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford EcoBoost 400. But after nine races, surprise winners and even a cheating scandal, the usual suspects are the ones competing for the series title.

There are just three races left in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season and heading into Sunday’s AAA Texas 500, none of the sport’s Big Three is guaranteed a shot at the championship. It was Joey Logano, not Martin Truex Jr., in Victory Lane at Martinsville last weekend after a last-lap bump-and-run secured him a spot.

Heading into the First Data 500, the 2018 NASCAR playoffs has been through a miserable stretch. Talladega was a four-car Stewart-Haas Racing freight train that gave us the fewest lead changes since 1973. Then, last Sunday a Kansas elimination race became notable for its unique ability to eliminate people from staying awake. The Round of 8 starts with some sluggish momentum in what’s been another difficult season for stock car racing. Pit road penalties? Pitiful passing? Zzzz.